6. Slight increase in the number of suicides from the year
before

The number of suicides has decreased relatively evenly since
1990, when more than 1,500 suicides were committed in Finland. Over
the past ten years, the number of suicides has decreased by one
third among women and by nearly one quarter among men. In 2016,
altogether 787 persons committed suicides, which was over 50 cases
more than in the previous year but almost the same number as in
2014.

Men committed clearly more suicides than women. More than
three-quarters of suicides were committed by men. In 2016, suicide
mortality or the number of suicides a year per 100,000 population
was 14, being 23 for men and six for women (Figure 12). Men’s
suicides are, however, more evenly divided between different age
groups than women’s. In suicides committed by women, those
committed by young people aged under 25 are more emphasised than
among men even though the average age at the time of committing
suicide is 49 for both women and men.

Suicides are a central cause of death for young people. Among
the causes of death for young people aged 15 to 24, the share of
suicides is one third. The share of suicides in the causes of death
for young people is high because other mortality among young people
is low. The share of persons aged under 25 among all those having
committed suicide was relatively low, 13 per cent.

Young people's suicide mortality in Finland is high by European
comparison. According to Eurostat's statistics for 2014, the
suicide mortality among young people aged 20 to 24 was higher than
in Finland only in Lithuania, Ireland and Latvia. By contrast, for
persons aged 65 and over, suicide mortality in Finland did not
differ from the EU average.

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF):
Causes of death [e-publication].ISSN=1799-5078. 2016,
6. Slight increase in the number of suicides from the year before
. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 25.5.2019].Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/ksyyt/2016/ksyyt_2016_2017-12-29_kat_006_en.html